


More to Love

by FagurFiskur



Series: 30 (more) cheesy tropes [29]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chubby Dean, Dean Has Self-Esteem Issues, Fluff, Librarian Castiel, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 06:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6108214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FagurFiskur/pseuds/FagurFiskur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He has put on some weight. There’s an undeniable bulge around his stomach underneath his t-shirt, and his jeans are starting to dig into his hips. A couple of days ago, Dean recalls with sinking dread, he had to change his clothes twice because he couldn’t get the last button to close. </p><p>This shouldn’t bother him. It wouldn’t, if it weren’t for...</p><p>Well, if it weren’t for Cas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	More to Love

**Author's Note:**

> 30 (more) cheesy tropes: #22 Librarian AU  
> Cas being a librarian barely has anything to do with the story but this is where my mind took me so

Dean doesn’t even notice until Sam points it out during family dinner.

“You sure you want another slice?”

Dean pauses, pie half-way between the pan and his plate. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sam shrugs. He’s got that shit-eating grin on his face that means he’s being a douche on purpose just to piss Dean off, possibly because Dean spent a good portion of the main course making fun of his salad. “Just saying. I’m pretty sure it stopped being holiday weight two months ago.”

Normally, Sam’s teasing rolls right off of Dean’s back. This time, however, he finds himself standing in front of the mirror once he’s back home. 

He _has_ put on some weight. There’s an undeniable bulge around his stomach underneath his t-shirt, and his jeans are starting to dig into his hips. A couple of days ago, Dean recalls with sinking dread, he had to change his clothes twice because he couldn’t get the last button to close. 

This shouldn’t bother him. It wouldn’t, if it weren’t for...

Well, if it weren’t for Cas.

Cas is the ridiculously perfect specimen of man who works at Dean’s local library. Dean may or may not have burned through five books in the past four weeks just so he could have an excuse to keep coming back and get another recommendation from Cas. Usually, it results in Cas leading him around for close to an hour, talking Dean’s ear off. 

Up until now, Dean has figured whatever he feels for Cas is reciprocated. The hour-long tours have got to go above and beyond normal customer service, and Dean’s pretty sure the few times he’s worked up the courage to flirt with Cas, Cas has flirted right back.

Now, though, he’s not so sure. He’s always known that Cas is out of his league but he hadn’t realized just how much. In addition to seeing him at the library, Dean has often spotted Cas jogging around the neighborhood in the evenings. He keeps himself in peak physical shape. And Dean...

He pokes his stomach sadly. His steady diet of fatty foods and pie hasn’t done him any favors.

It’s time he make some changes.

 

Buying healthier food is easy enough, even if Dean feels like crying when he looks into his cart at the grocery store. Exercise is a different package. Dean’s got decent upper-body strength thanks to his job at the garage, but he gets winded walking up a couple of flights of stairs.

After some rummaging, he finds some long shorts in his closet and a pair of running shoes (a Christmas gift from Sam from over two years ago, still unused. Just how long has Dean been getting fatter?).

This way, Dean figures, he can kill two birds with one stone. Get a decent workout and, if he should happen to bump into Cas during his run, well, it’s a small town. It’s bound to happen.

Not yet, though. Dean’s sure as hell not gonna let Cas see him red-faced and gasping for air (not in that context, anyway) but in a couple of weeks, when his stamina’s better...

Dean heads out for his first run the next morning, just after dawn. The air is still a little chilly and the streets are empty. The only noise are the birds chirping and the occasional car in the distance, and it’s actually kind of nice.

Dean can absolutely do this.

 

Fifteen minutes, he’s all but crawling towards the nearest park bench. This running thing is _a lot_ harder than people make it look, as it turns out. Dean plops down ungracefully, leaning forward on his elbows and running a hand through his (already damp, ew) hair. He’s hot all over, breath catching in his chest and sweat running down his brow, and to top it off he feels vaguely nauseous. His only comfort is that there’s no one out yet to see him like this.

“Dean?”

Dean squeezes his eyes shut. _Of fucking course._ “Hey, Cas,” he mutters.

“Are you alright?”

Cas’ hand touches his shoulder softly and Dean looks up, managing a smile that probably looks more like a grimace.

“I’m fine,” he says. “Just catching my breath.”

“First time running?” Cas asks with a sympathetic smile.

Dean laughs. “Is it that obvious? Wait,” he adds quickly. “Don’t answer that.”

“It gets easier with time.” 

Cas sits down next to him, looking over Dean with an inscrutable expression, and Dean tries to inconspicuously suck in his gut a little.

“I thought you ran in the evenings,” he says to fill the uncomfortable silence that’s settled between them, only to realize as soon as he’s said it that he probably sounds like a stalker.

Fortunately, Cas doesn’t seem to find his observation creepy. Or if he does, he doesn’t show it. “I do that, too. I enjoy running, so I try to find time for it twice a day.”

Dean nods, like he can at all comprehend _wanting_ to run, never mind twice a day. He straightens, leg shifting as he does it and causing his knee to bump against Cas’. He pulls it away immediately, feeling his face grow even warmer and hoping that Cas doesn’t notice.

He feels even more pathetic sitting next to Cas like this, with the contrast between them never more obvious. Dean, clumsy and flabby, still fighting to breathe evenly after a mere fifteen minute run, while Cas looks like some Greek demi-god. 

Dean squirms, fighting the urge to hunch over again to make himself in some way smaller. Cas is still _looking_ at him, a smile on his lips that really could mean anything. Maybe he’s laughing at Dean. 

“Did you warm up before your run?” he suddenly asks.

Dean blinks. “Um... no? Should I have?”

“Your muscles will get pretty sore if you don’t.”

Dean groans. _Great_ , just what he needs.

“You might be able to avoid it if you cool down and stretch,” Cas says. He stands up, and offers his hand to Dean. “I’ll walk with you, if you’d like.”

“Uh...” Dean says, staring dumbly at Cas’ outstretched hand. “I only ran for fifteen minutes.”

“I think you’re done for the day,” Cas says, that smile on his lips again. He’s _definitely_ laughing at Dean. “It doesn’t matter how long you run for, you need to listen to your body.”

Dean bites down on his tongue before he can say something stupid and nonsensical like _I’d rather listen to yours,_ and takes Cas’ hand. Cas pulls him up with surprising strength, causing Dean to stumble into him. Their torsos bump and Dean recoils so quickly he almost falls flat on his ass again.

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

Cas doesn’t answer, but his smile widens just a bit and he squeezes Dean’s hand before letting it go.

They start walking back to Dean’s home at a leisurely pace. It’s a little awkward at first, until Cas asks Dean about the latest book he took home.

“It’s pretty good,” Dean answers. “Though I’m not sure I get it. He just wakes up one day and is a chick? And he’s immortal?”

Cas grins. “It’s best just to enjoy the story without questioning the more... magical realist aspects during your reading. There is a reason it’s a classic. It’s been called the longest love letter in literature.”

Maybe Dean’s getting his hopes up but he can’t help but perk up. “You recommended me a love letter?”

To his shock, Cas flushes and ducks his head. The reaction, admittedly, gives Dean a tiny ego boost.

“Should I be reading anything into that?”

“...Perhaps,” Cas admits, eyes darting over to Dean.

Dean grins to himself. He suddenly feels a lot lighter.

 

Once they get back to Dean’s house, Cas insists that they finish off by stretching. Dean’s reluctant at first, especially when Cas bends down, laying his forehead against his knees with ease.

He ends up doing a few sets of stretches, muscles straining at being moved in ways they haven't in years. He’s uncomfortably aware of the fact that Cas is next to him the entire time, that he can look over whenever he wants and see Dean straining to reach his toes, shirt scrunching up and exposing the flabby underside of his belly.

Thankfully, it’s over soon.

“Um, thanks,” Dean tells Cas, a little awkwardly, leaning his shoulder against the door with one hand on the doorknob, just in case he says something completely moronic and needs to bolt right away. “For the tips. And the company.”

“It was my pleasure,” Cas says. “Although I’m not sure we should repeat the experience.”

Dean’s heart sinks. “Oh.”

But then Cas leans in closer, breath hitting Dean’s face and feeling impossibly warm against his already overheated skin. “Because I’m not certain I could keep my hands to myself next time.”

Heat coils low in Dean’s belly but Cas doesn’t close the gap between them, just flicks his tongue out lightly to wet his lips and then leans away again.

“I hope to see you at the library soon, Dean.”

 

Dean finishes _Orlando_ that same day. An hour later, he’s pressed against the shelves in some darkened corner of the library, torso once again pressed against Cas’ as they make out like a couple of horny teenagers. 

And when Cas grabs his hips, fingertips digging into the soft flesh on Dean’s sides, and lets out a heated groan, Dean reflects that maybe packing on a couple of extra pounds isn’t the end of the world. 


End file.
